The Red River Exhibition Association wants to take over Assiniboia Downs and incorporate horse racing into its plans for a "multi-purpose entertainment destination centre."

Garth Rogerson, CEO of the RREA, best known for putting on the popular 10-day Red River Exhibition fair every June, has presented the province with a proposal to take over its neighbour on the western outskirts of town.

"The idea is to have lots of interesting shows, concerts and other events, like motocross racing or monster trucks. Horse racing doesn't pay the bills (on its own); it's another entertainment option," Rogerson said.

A source close to the situation said the horse-racing industry is "dying," as wagering on thoroughbreds has declined 32 per cent in the last decade. The arrival of the Winnipeg Jets nearly two years ago has served to stretch entertainment dollars even thinner. The RREA plan could cut the province's $10-million annual contribution to the horse-racing industry in half by marrying the two facilities, Rogerson said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ex-looks-to-take-over-downs-188971861.html

The weather gods must have been smiling the night Hudson landed in Winnipeg.

The deep freeze that had engulfed the city for more than a week had ended and it was a comparatively pleasant -19 C.

Hudson is a polar bear, but he was hand-reared by zookeepers and his birthplace wasn't Hudson Bay, it was Toronto, so he's not exactly used to the frigid cold.

Hudson was rolled out in his steel crate at the Richardson International Airport at 3:15 a.m. Tuesday, an hour late after a flight delay.

Before that, there had been a road trip from the Toronto Zoo to the airport in Hamilton, a long wait on the ground, and a 21/2-hour flight.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/hudson-makes-his-new-home-in-winnipeg-188971871.html

Freezing rain and warm temperatures are sparking worries about Ottawa prime cold weather tourist attraction, Winterlude.

When the annual festival launches on Friday, Winterlude will be celebrating its 35th season. But over the years festival organizers have learned valuable lessons on how to roll with Mother Nature's punches.

The Rideau Canal Skateway is the most popular Winterlude attraction and to protect it from Tuesday's onslaught of freezing rain and unusually warm weather expected on Wednesday, the National Capital Commission is closing the canal temporarily.

Denise Leblanc of the NCC said the closure is in the best interests of the canal's skateway and its skaters.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2013/01/29/ottawa-freezing-rain-threatens-highways-winterlude.html

Discussions over the polar bear population in Southern Hudson Bay have been postponed.

Representatives from Quebec, Ontario and Nunavut were supposed to get together in Inukjuak, Que., two weeks from now to discuss setting a total allowable harvest for the area.

But the meeting could now be months away.

"The Nunavik Marine Board have just identified to us that they will be postponing the meeting until a further date because the report from the aerial surveys from 2011 [from the Ontario coastline] and the one for 2012 that happened off Quebec are not ready yet," said Drikus Gissing, the Director of Wildlife Management with the Nunavut Government.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2013/01/30/north-polar-bear-meetings-postponed.html

BC Hydro says it's trying to reduce the negative impacts the proposed Site C dam will have on wildlife and habitat in this province's north.

The Crown corporation has already filed an environmental impact statement on the $7.9-billion dollar project, noting it will flood agricultural land and First Nations heritage sites.

Spokeswoman Siobhan Jackson says the project will destroy the homes of animals like the Bay-breasted warbler, migratory bull trout and Drummond's thistle.

But she says BC Hydro is proposing special protective measures like crossings for amphibians, slower turning turbines so fish can escape and fish-free wetlands for dragonflies.

Hydro also bills the dam's proposed 83-kilometre, 9,300-hectare reservoir as the Peace Country's newest tourist attraction, a huge instant lake with at least three separate boat launch areas and well-stocked with fish, with Hydro estimating a 230 per cent increase in fish habitat for rainbow trout.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/01/30/bc-site-c-environment.html

Complete: ATLANTA - A Georgia city featured as a filming location in the TV show "The Walking Dead" is featured on the cover of the state's new tourism guide.

State tourism officials say the city of Senoia has been featured in more than 25 movies and television programs, with the AMC zombie drama being the latest to shoot in its downtown area. Senoia is located about 25 miles south of Atlanta.

This year's Georgia Travel Guide was unveiled Tuesday by Gov. Nathan Deal. The state is publishing 750,000 copies of the magazine-sized guidebook.

Deal praised tourism as a "main driver" of Georgia's economy. State tourism leaders presented the governor with a check for $1.263 billion — the amount of tax revenues tourists generated for the state in 2011.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/ga-city-used-as-walking-dead-location-featured-on-cover-of-2013-state-tourism-guide-188987311.html

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans has celebrated plenty of milestones on its slow road to recovery from Hurricane Katrina, but arguably none is bigger than hosting its first Super Bowl since the 2005 storm left the city in shambles.

To see the remnants of Katrina's destruction, fans coming to town for Sunday's game will have to stray from the French Quarter and the downtown corridor where the Superdome is located. Even in the neighbourhoods that bore the brunt of the storm, many of the most glaring scars have faded over time.

Billions of dollars in federal money has paid for repairing and replacing tens of thousands of homes wrecked by flooding. Gone are the ubiquitous FEMA trailers that once dotted the landscape. Levees that broke and flooded 80 per cent of the city have been fortified with the intent of protecting the city from another epic hurricane.

The city's lifeblood tourism trade has thrived despite the double-barrel blow of Katrina and BP's massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Seafood is plentiful as the harvest rebounds from effects of the oil spill.

Crowds at Jazz Fest and Mardi Gras, two of the city's signature events, have at least matched pre-storm levels. Lured by tax credits, filmmakers have flocked here in droves. And the hospitality industry has been an economic engine for the city, which has more restaurants now than it did when the storm made landfall.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/hurricane-katrinas-scars-are-harder-to-see-as-fans-converge-on-new-orleans-for-the-super-bowl-188835681.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Jan.  '59)

The finance committee Thursday, referred a request for $1,500 to entertain American high school bands in Winnipeg this summer to the city's tourist promotion committee.

A private citizen, Stan Richardson, who for many years has acted as host to visiting school bands, appeared before the finance committee to describe how he had entertained some 15 bands last year and many more in earlier years.  Now he is handing over his job to the Junior Chamber of Commerce.

Before he did so, he thought the city should make some contribution towards the entertainment costs of the visiting bands - about $100 per group.